If you hear customer relationship management (CRM) tools and immediately think of Salesforce, you’re not the only one. But it’s certainly not the only option, particularly in 2024.
Having visibility into your sales data is a key to any growing organisation's success. Cloud-based CRMs, such as Salesforce, have emerged out of the need for businesses to manage their relationships with prospects and customers
CRMs can vary greatly in price and capability, so organizations must find the right one for their business and budget. Salesforce is arguably the most popular choice for many businesses, but it isn’t right for everyone.
Some organizations require a heavyweight solution like Salesforce, while others simply need a cheaper tool that delivers on the basics such as pipeline management and data tracking.
With this in mind, we've pulled together a list of the 9 best Salesforce alternatives in 2024, each with its pros and cons. We've also evaluated them based on independent reviews of some key features, to help you to find the best tool for your business.
Types of Salesforce alternatives
There are two types of Salesforce alternatives, a traditional CRM tool and pipeline management tools that are more sales-focused.
Traditional CRM tools. CRM stands for customer relationship management, which aims to manage a company's relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The aim of a CRM is to improve business relationships and enable growth.
Traditional CRM tools are often used by multiple departments such as marketing, sales and RevOps, used in defined channels and can often be transactional. The first four solutions on this list are more traditional CRM tools.
Sales automation tools. Sales automation tools often have some of the capabilities of a CRM, but focus more on automating elements of the sales journey. For example, a tool like Salesloft markets itself as a revenue workflow platform.
As the name suggests, these tools are designed for (and often by) sales teams. Sales automation tools can also cover Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, email marketing software and lead generation software.
Each tool can add value in a different way, meaning it’s best to look out for the features that suit your business needs.
That’s why, when looking at the best alternatives, we looked at a wide range of different factors, including:
functionality
integrations
pricing
user experience, and
support.
How to choose a CRM
There are so many options available, it can be difficult to differentiate between them and work out which Salesforce alternative is best for your business.
Alongside paying attention to the factors we’ve listed, consider your company's goals, budget and essential features. We’ve also included independent user reviews, which allows you to build up an image for what the CRM software is like from a user perspective.
It's also worth speaking to your network and colleagues to see if they have experience using any of these platforms or booking a demo to see what the hype is about yourself.
Microsoft Dynamics is a leader in the traditional CRM space, produced by one of the top five most valuable companies in the world.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a set of tools built to perform practically every aspect of business management, including customer relationship management. If your business relies heavily on Microsoft products, including Word, Excel and Outlook, Microsoft Dynamics is a great option as it integrates seamlessly with its Microsoft stablemates.
Much like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics looks at the complete view of your customer base and sales journey. Its key features include predicting customer intent, improving lead generation and qualification, and enriching customer relationships.
The sales manager function allows you to gain greater visibility into your team with forecasting tools, team sales insights, and KPI tracking. Meanwhile, the sales operations function focuses on results, streamlining processes with automated sequences, custom dashboards and visualisations.
Main benefits
Integrations. The application allows you to integrate with the whole of Microsoft's suite, alongside over 1,000 external integrations.
Up-to-date analytics. Gather and collate data that keeps your sales team informed and up to speed on customer journeys and more.
Adaptable. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is adaptable to your legacy system, making it an easier transition process. It can also be customized to a security level that fits your needs.
Main limitations
User experience. As this is an older, more complex system it is not always the most user friendly and can be a learning curve for many users.
Cost. For smaller businesses, managing this tool is relatively expensive.
Customization. While Dynamics 365 does offer customization capabilities, some users have expressed limitations in terms of the extent of customization possible.
Microsoft Dynamics dashboard
Important details
Pricing: Starts at $65 per user, per month, which is a fairly high starting point in the CRM market.
Integrations: Over 1,000 integrations are available, though many of them are through a third party like Zapier, which is worth keeping in mind.
Support available: The Quality of Support is rated below average for a CRM at 7.5/10. Users have also noted that support could be improved but on the whole seem satisfied.
Independent reviews
Microsoft Dynamics is rated 4.4/5 on Capterra overall, with scores of 4.1 for ease of use, 4.3 for features and 4.2 for customer service. On G2, Dynamics is rated slightly lower, at 3.8 out of 5. The platform has over 1000 reviews rating the software four stars or above and over 300 three stars or below ratings.
2. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales CRM and pipeline management platform that allows teams to oversee the sales process. From monitoring deals to streamlining communications, Pipedrive offers full coverage over the pipeline.
Pipedrive is a more cost-effective CRM than Salesforce, built by and for sales teams. The platform was founded in 2010 and now serves over one hundred thousand customers.
There are plenty of Pipedrive features that you’d expect from a CRM, such as easy integration, lead and team management, data insights and workflow automation. Pipedrive provides a complete toolset of tailored CRM features and functions to help your business reach its growth goals faster.
Pipedrive hosts lots of integrations on Zapier, but that said it does offer native integrations with these popular sales tools:
Slack
Zoom
Gmail
Microsoft Teams
Main benefits
Pipeline management. Pipedrive allows you to build multiple pipelines with ease. These can be tracked on desktop and mobile, so it's easy to see deals move through.
Intuitive. Many users note that Pipedrive’s design is extremely intuitive and accessible. This makes it a simple CRM to implement and get the team using.
Ease of use. The drag-and-drop features can make it simple and easy to move deals between phases, update progress, and monitor overall performance.
Pipedrive pipeline
Main limitations
Limited advanced customization. While Pipedrive does offer basic customization, its advanced options are limited. This can mean customers have to find workarounds for certain complex sales processes.
Mobile app. The mobile app is reported to have occasional performance issues and less intuitive access to certain features compared to the desktop version.
Sales focusessed. As a CRM focussed on sales and pipeline management, some business may find Pipedrive lacks some marketing automation features available with CRMs like HubSpot.
Important details
Pricing: Pipedrive’s essential plan starts at $14.90 per user and they have five pricing levels. The most expensive begins at $64.90 per user, though it's worth adding that some features will cost an additional amount regardless of which plan you are on.
Integrations: Pipedrive has over 400 integrations available, including project management tools such as Monday.com and Asana as well as contract management tools like Juro.
Support available: Pipedrive is rated 8.3/10 for customer support on G2, suggesting users are fairly happy with what the platform offers. Although, some users do note that support times can be pretty slow.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Pipedrive is rated 4.5 out of 5, with ratings of 4.6 for ease of use, 4.4 for customer service and 4.3 for features. On G2, Pipedrive has a slightly lower rating of 4.2, with over 1,700 reviews in total.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot Sales Hub is the dedicated sales CRM offered by HubSpot. HubSpot’s CRM portfolio has a goal to connect marketing, sales, content management, and customer service in one unified space.
It does this through several ‘hubs’ or tools that can be bought separately or used together, depending on your business needs. HubSpot is a market leader in the CRM industry, with a market share of around 35 per cent. Since it was founded in 2006, HubSpot has acquired over 194,000 customers in 120 countries.
HubSpot’s key features include email marketing, ads software, marketing analytics, and 24/7 support included in your plan. These are all part of a very user friendly interface
It's perhaps unsurprising then, that HubSpot is Salesforce’s largest competitor in the market. This can lead to a lot of comparisons which are well worth reading. If you’re considering buying one of the two, we’d recommend checking out this detailed buyer’s guide for HubSpot vs Salesforce.
Main benefits
Simplicity. HubSpot’s all-in-one approach makes it a strong contender for small to medium-sized businesses that value a more user-first experience. Customers regularly praise the platform for its ease of use.
Automation. HubSpot has a new AI offering that automates routine tasks, including an AI Email Writer and Social Caption Generator.
Alignment between sales and marketing. HubSpot is renowned for ensuring that data is accessible and readable for both sales and marketing teams, making it well suited to smaller companies that want to improve overall performance.
Main limitations
Ease of setup. Due to its extensive range of features some users have commented that HubSpot takes a while to get used to and set up correctly. This could mean it takes a while for your company to see value using the product.
Integrations. Though HubSpot is home to over 1,000 integrations, users note that these are not as polished as they could be. Many have also noted that they use workarounds or extra tools during integration.
Pricing model. HubSpot’s pricing model is interesting, it offers tiered plans but many features exist behind a paywall. This has left some smaller business users frustrated, as they note these are 'hidden costs’.
Important details
Pricing:HubSpot’s pricing plans state a set price for a set number of users on a given plan, for example, $396/mo for up to 5 users in their Sales Hub. These costs increase as you add users to additional hubs, such as the Marketing Hub.
Integrations: HubSpot has over 1,000 integrations, including with Salesforce! It has integrations with many essential tools such as Microsoft applications, Google applications, Slack, Zoom and Juro.
Support available: HubSpot is rated 8.7/10 for its quality of support across its sales and marketing hubs, compared to Salesforce’s 8.0/10 score on G2. This suggests that people are largely happy with the support at HubSpot.
HubSpot Sales Hub pricing model
Independent reviews
HubSpot is rated 4.5 out of 5 on Capterra, with ratings of 4.4 for ease of use, 4.3 for features and 4.4 for customer service. The CRM is rated ever so slightly lower on G2 though, at 4.4 out of 5.
4. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM markets itself as a CRM that caters to the business needs of mid-scale to large-scale enterprises. It has a free offering that makes an excellent entry-level CRM for small businesses and users can always upgrade to a paid plan.
The paid plan includes features such as automating marketing tasks and tracking customer data. Some of its most used features include contact management, sales funnels, pipeline management and workflow automation, to name a few.
On the paid option, Zoho CRM also offers integrations with 500+ popular business apps in a single business system. These include a number of third party apps such as Mailchimp, Google Analytics and Quickbooks.
Main benefits
Free plan. Perhaps the biggest benefit of this CRM is that it has a free version, something that may appeal to small businesses with lower sales volumes and budgets.
Mobile app. Zoho CRM also has a mobile app, meaning you can keep track of your data while on the move. You can also connect to other Zoho apps on the free plan.
Intuitive interface. Zoho CRM is both easy to learn and to use. All plans let you create contact lists, generate leads with drag-and-drop forms and include customization.
Main limitations
Limited plan options. Low-tier users face a lot of restrictions on the number of users adn some features. AI tools are also only available on high-tier plans.
Customer support. A lot of users comment on the fact that support is not very useful when it comes to integrations with third party apps, which is worth keeping in mind.
Power. Zoho CRM is not the most powerful CRM, meaning there are limitations to the amount of data it can process. This is something larger businesses will need.
Zoho CRM dashboard
Important details
Pricing: Zoho CRM has a free option, followed by a standard price of $14 per user per month, which rises to $40 on its most comprehensive offering. This is a good CRM for those on a budget or who are dipping their toes into the CRM market.
Integrations: Zoho CRM offers limited integrations unless you’re on its top two plans, then this number is unlimited. Customers have commented that it can be difficult to implement integrations.
Support available: On G2, the platform is rated 7.5 for customer support, a point below the industry average. People have noted that reply times can be long and support for free plans is not prioritised.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Zoho CRM is rated 4.3 out of 5, with scores of 4.1 for customer service, 4.1 for ease of use and 4.3 for features. The CRM software is also rated 4.0 on G2, a lower score than most competitors.
5. Monday.com
Monday.com is a project management tool that has recently moved into the CRM space with monday sales CRM. It was released in August 2022, focussing on lead and deal management, contact management, real-time sales dashboards and project management.
Traditionally, Monday.com is a cloud-based platform that enables organizations to establish workflows, manage teams, and track projects company-wide. The software excels at bringing together different departments across the business and providing greater visibility into projects in progress in real-time.
When this is translated into a CRM, it is quite powerful. The sales CRM is a fully customizable sales platform, meaning users can track deals, manage pipelines, centralize client communication and view important data on simple dashboards.
It is a good CRM for teams that require a lightweight, easy-to-use sales CRM but doesn’t have the large-scale capabilities of a platform like Salesforce or HubSpot.
Main benefits
User experience. Monday is known for its friendly interface, accessibility and intuitive nature and this isn’t lost on its CRM offering. Users regularly comment on how accessible the platform is and the speed of adoption.
Integrations. For a smaller CRM, Monday has a lot to offer on the integrations front, with over 200 available, often through third-party integrations. These include Slack, Google applications and Meta applications.
Cost. Monday is a well priced alternative to Salesforce and doesn’t seem to have too many hidden costs. This makes it a great solution for smaller and scaling businesses.
Monday.com sales crm interface
Main limitations
Lightweight solution. Monday is a fairly lightweight CRM, meaning it will not have all of the same capabilities as a larger CRM like HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive.
Features. Monday is missing any advanced marketing features such as mass email send and tracking. This can mean it is limited to more of a sales use case than other Salesforce alternatives.
Bugs. A fair number of users have commented on the platform's bugs, often noting they have to log in and out to stop the screen from freezing. Although many did comment that this may be an early stage issue.
Important details
Pricing: The basic plan for monday sales CRM starts at $10 per user, while their enterprise plans are custom and therefore have no starting price. On the whole, users seem pleased with the price offering.
Integrations: The sales CRM has around 200+ integrations, some of which are native. However, most can be achieved through a third party system such as Zapier.
Support available: Monday has a high customer support score on G2 with a score of 8.7 out of 10. Customer reviews are also by and large positive about support.
Independent reviews
Monday sales crm has a rating of 4.7 on Capterra, with ratings of 4.7 for ease of use, 4.7 for customer service and 4.5 for features, making it one of the higher rated solutions on the market. It is rated slightly lower on G2 though, with a rating of 4.6 out of 5.
6. SalesLoft
Salesloft is an AI-powered revenue workflow platform that aims to help sellers and sales teams create more profit. The platform brands itself as a full service platform for sales teams to execute all of their digital selling tasks, build rapport with buyers and data led insights set to win deals.
For a sales focussed platform, it covers a lot of ground. Salesloft specialises in sales forecasting, lead management, sales acceleration, sales tracking, sales automation, call recording, cold emailing, sales training call tracking and more.
Salesloft also provides a customer engagement platform for sales teams. It has over 100 integrations available, including a popular integration with Salesforce.
Main benefits
Sales engagement. With an intense focus on the sales journey, Salesloft is extremely well equipped to keep sales reps engaged.
Scalability. Salesloft is very customizable, meaning it can fit the needs of small and large sales teams, making it suitable for various business sizes.
Analytics and reporting. Salesloft offers data-driven insights to help sales teams track performance and make data-informed decisions.
Main limitations
Price. A number of users have commented that Salesloft is relatively expensive, especially for smaller businesses or startups.
Complex features. For businesses that follow a more straightforward sales processes, some features of Salesloft could be overly complex for their needs.
Customization limitations. While the platform is highly customizable, there are certain limitations when trying to tailor the platform to very specific requirements.
Salesloft dashboard
Important details
Pricing: Salesloft does not have any of its pricing visible on its website or G2. However, users seem to state in reviews that it’s on the pricer side of sales automation software.
Integrations: Salesloft offers over 100 integrations, including with all the usual suspects. Although some of these are only available through a third party such as Zapier.
Support available: Quality of support is rated 8.7/10 on G2, making it just below the industry standard of 8.9. Users on the whole seem happy with the quality of support they receive from the platform.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Salesloft is rated 4.3 out of 5, with scores of 4.2 for features, 4.1 for customer service and 4.3 for ease of use. Salesloft is also rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2.
7. Freshsales
Freshsales is a sales automation solution made for sales teams. The CRM has the capability to attract quality leads, engage in quality conversation with prospects using built in email and phone capacity, drive deals with AI and nurture customer relationships.
Like most solutions mentioned here, it's a cloud-based CRM solution that aims to help increase revenue by giving salespeople a better overview of their pipeline and customer base. The platform was founded in 2016 and is now used by over 60,000 businesses.
Freshsales uses Zapier for its integrations function, integrating with over 750 applications using this method. It offers app ‘bundles’ to users based on their particular needs, such as the ‘reach my leads bundle’.
Main benefits
Simplicity and ease. Freshsales is a fairly intuitive platform, with a user experience that suits all levels not just those who are tech savvy.
Value. As a lower budget option, Freshsales is rated highly for the value it gives customers with training sessions and customer support ratings high.
Feature selection. Freshsales has a wide range of CRM features to suit businesses of varying sizes.
Freshsales dashboard
Main limitations
Custom fields. Some users comment that there are not enough custom fields available on the platform, requiring more manual work than other CRMs.
Organization. The organisational ability of this CRM is high, which can lead to some users becoming confused as to what to put where.
Integrations. Most integrations are not native and require users to use Zapier which can cause some issues.
Important details
Pricing: The smallest plan starts at $15 per user and graduates to $69 per user on their largest plan.
Integrations: There are lots of integrations on offer but these are primarily through a third-party integration via Zapier. Some users find this a frustration of the platform.
Support available: Quality of Support is voted above average for Freshsales, at 8.9/10 against an industry standard of 8.6. Most users comment positively on the customer support experience.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Freshsales is rated 4.5 out of 5, with scores of 4.4 for features, 4.5 for customer service and 4.4 for ease of use. Salesloft is rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2, with over 1,100 reviews.
Questions to consider when choosing a Salesforce alternative
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when before choosing a Salesforce alternative for your business:
How many sales do you make a month?
What is your budget? Is Salesforce too expensive?
What are your typical use cases?
How important is customer service to you?
What security measures do you need to meet?
Is having a positive user experience essential to you?
Which industry are you focussed on?
Would you like your Salesforce alternative to integrate with certain platforms? (e.g do you want to manage contracts Salesforce?)
Have you considered comparing it to other options available, eg. HubSpot vs Monday.com
Would you benefit from any functionality beyond the traditional sales pipeline?
Now you have the answers to those questions in mind, it'll be much easier to find the right Salesforce alternative for you.
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If you hear customer relationship management (CRM) tools and immediately think of Salesforce, you’re not the only one. But it’s certainly not the only option, particularly in 2024.
Having visibility into your sales data is a key to any growing organisation's success. Cloud-based CRMs, such as Salesforce, have emerged out of the need for businesses to manage their relationships with prospects and customers
CRMs can vary greatly in price and capability, so organizations must find the right one for their business and budget. Salesforce is arguably the most popular choice for many businesses, but it isn’t right for everyone.
Some organizations require a heavyweight solution like Salesforce, while others simply need a cheaper tool that delivers on the basics such as pipeline management and data tracking.
With this in mind, we've pulled together a list of the 9 best Salesforce alternatives in 2024, each with its pros and cons. We've also evaluated them based on independent reviews of some key features, to help you to find the best tool for your business.
Types of Salesforce alternatives
There are two types of Salesforce alternatives, a traditional CRM tool and pipeline management tools that are more sales-focused.
Traditional CRM tools. CRM stands for customer relationship management, which aims to manage a company's relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The aim of a CRM is to improve business relationships and enable growth.
Traditional CRM tools are often used by multiple departments such as marketing, sales and RevOps, used in defined channels and can often be transactional. The first four solutions on this list are more traditional CRM tools.
Sales automation tools. Sales automation tools often have some of the capabilities of a CRM, but focus more on automating elements of the sales journey. For example, a tool like Salesloft markets itself as a revenue workflow platform.
As the name suggests, these tools are designed for (and often by) sales teams. Sales automation tools can also cover Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, email marketing software and lead generation software.
Each tool can add value in a different way, meaning it’s best to look out for the features that suit your business needs.
That’s why, when looking at the best alternatives, we looked at a wide range of different factors, including:
functionality
integrations
pricing
user experience, and
support.
How to choose a CRM
There are so many options available, it can be difficult to differentiate between them and work out which Salesforce alternative is best for your business.
Alongside paying attention to the factors we’ve listed, consider your company's goals, budget and essential features. We’ve also included independent user reviews, which allows you to build up an image for what the CRM software is like from a user perspective.
It's also worth speaking to your network and colleagues to see if they have experience using any of these platforms or booking a demo to see what the hype is about yourself.
1. Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a leader in the traditional CRM space, produced by one of the top five most valuable companies in the world.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a set of tools built to perform practically every aspect of business management, including customer relationship management. If your business relies heavily on Microsoft products, including Word, Excel and Outlook, Microsoft Dynamics is a great option as it integrates seamlessly with its Microsoft stablemates.
Much like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics looks at the complete view of your customer base and sales journey. Its key features include predicting customer intent, improving lead generation and qualification, and enriching customer relationships.
The sales manager function allows you to gain greater visibility into your team with forecasting tools, team sales insights, and KPI tracking. Meanwhile, the sales operations function focuses on results, streamlining processes with automated sequences, custom dashboards and visualisations.
Main benefits
Integrations. The application allows you to integrate with the whole of Microsoft's suite, alongside over 1,000 external integrations.
Up-to-date analytics. Gather and collate data that keeps your sales team informed and up to speed on customer journeys and more.
Adaptable. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is adaptable to your legacy system, making it an easier transition process. It can also be customized to a security level that fits your needs.
Main limitations
User experience. As this is an older, more complex system it is not always the most user friendly and can be a learning curve for many users.
Cost. For smaller businesses, managing this tool is relatively expensive.
Customization. While Dynamics 365 does offer customization capabilities, some users have expressed limitations in terms of the extent of customization possible.
Microsoft Dynamics dashboard
Important details
Pricing: Starts at $65 per user, per month, which is a fairly high starting point in the CRM market.
Integrations: Over 1,000 integrations are available, though many of them are through a third party like Zapier, which is worth keeping in mind.
Support available: The Quality of Support is rated below average for a CRM at 7.5/10. Users have also noted that support could be improved but on the whole seem satisfied.
Independent reviews
Microsoft Dynamics is rated 4.4/5 on Capterra overall, with scores of 4.1 for ease of use, 4.3 for features and 4.2 for customer service. On G2, Dynamics is rated slightly lower, at 3.8 out of 5. The platform has over 1000 reviews rating the software four stars or above and over 300 three stars or below ratings.
2. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales CRM and pipeline management platform that allows teams to oversee the sales process. From monitoring deals to streamlining communications, Pipedrive offers full coverage over the pipeline.
Pipedrive is a more cost-effective CRM than Salesforce, built by and for sales teams. The platform was founded in 2010 and now serves over one hundred thousand customers.
There are plenty of Pipedrive features that you’d expect from a CRM, such as easy integration, lead and team management, data insights and workflow automation. Pipedrive provides a complete toolset of tailored CRM features and functions to help your business reach its growth goals faster.
Pipedrive hosts lots of integrations on Zapier, but that said it does offer native integrations with these popular sales tools:
Slack
Zoom
Gmail
Microsoft Teams
Main benefits
Pipeline management. Pipedrive allows you to build multiple pipelines with ease. These can be tracked on desktop and mobile, so it's easy to see deals move through.
Intuitive. Many users note that Pipedrive’s design is extremely intuitive and accessible. This makes it a simple CRM to implement and get the team using.
Ease of use. The drag-and-drop features can make it simple and easy to move deals between phases, update progress, and monitor overall performance.
Pipedrive pipeline
Main limitations
Limited advanced customization. While Pipedrive does offer basic customization, its advanced options are limited. This can mean customers have to find workarounds for certain complex sales processes.
Mobile app. The mobile app is reported to have occasional performance issues and less intuitive access to certain features compared to the desktop version.
Sales focusessed. As a CRM focussed on sales and pipeline management, some business may find Pipedrive lacks some marketing automation features available with CRMs like HubSpot.
Important details
Pricing: Pipedrive’s essential plan starts at $14.90 per user and they have five pricing levels. The most expensive begins at $64.90 per user, though it's worth adding that some features will cost an additional amount regardless of which plan you are on.
Integrations: Pipedrive has over 400 integrations available, including project management tools such as Monday.com and Asana as well as contract management tools like Juro.
Support available: Pipedrive is rated 8.3/10 for customer support on G2, suggesting users are fairly happy with what the platform offers. Although, some users do note that support times can be pretty slow.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Pipedrive is rated 4.5 out of 5, with ratings of 4.6 for ease of use, 4.4 for customer service and 4.3 for features. On G2, Pipedrive has a slightly lower rating of 4.2, with over 1,700 reviews in total.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot Sales Hub is the dedicated sales CRM offered by HubSpot. HubSpot’s CRM portfolio has a goal to connect marketing, sales, content management, and customer service in one unified space.
It does this through several ‘hubs’ or tools that can be bought separately or used together, depending on your business needs. HubSpot is a market leader in the CRM industry, with a market share of around 35 per cent. Since it was founded in 2006, HubSpot has acquired over 194,000 customers in 120 countries.
HubSpot’s key features include email marketing, ads software, marketing analytics, and 24/7 support included in your plan. These are all part of a very user friendly interface
It's perhaps unsurprising then, that HubSpot is Salesforce’s largest competitor in the market. This can lead to a lot of comparisons which are well worth reading. If you’re considering buying one of the two, we’d recommend checking out this detailed buyer’s guide for HubSpot vs Salesforce.
Main benefits
Simplicity. HubSpot’s all-in-one approach makes it a strong contender for small to medium-sized businesses that value a more user-first experience. Customers regularly praise the platform for its ease of use.
Automation. HubSpot has a new AI offering that automates routine tasks, including an AI Email Writer and Social Caption Generator.
Alignment between sales and marketing. HubSpot is renowned for ensuring that data is accessible and readable for both sales and marketing teams, making it well suited to smaller companies that want to improve overall performance.
Main limitations
Ease of setup. Due to its extensive range of features some users have commented that HubSpot takes a while to get used to and set up correctly. This could mean it takes a while for your company to see value using the product.
Integrations. Though HubSpot is home to over 1,000 integrations, users note that these are not as polished as they could be. Many have also noted that they use workarounds or extra tools during integration.
Pricing model. HubSpot’s pricing model is interesting, it offers tiered plans but many features exist behind a paywall. This has left some smaller business users frustrated, as they note these are 'hidden costs’.
Important details
Pricing:HubSpot’s pricing plans state a set price for a set number of users on a given plan, for example, $396/mo for up to 5 users in their Sales Hub. These costs increase as you add users to additional hubs, such as the Marketing Hub.
Integrations: HubSpot has over 1,000 integrations, including with Salesforce! It has integrations with many essential tools such as Microsoft applications, Google applications, Slack, Zoom and Juro.
Support available: HubSpot is rated 8.7/10 for its quality of support across its sales and marketing hubs, compared to Salesforce’s 8.0/10 score on G2. This suggests that people are largely happy with the support at HubSpot.
HubSpot Sales Hub pricing model
Independent reviews
HubSpot is rated 4.5 out of 5 on Capterra, with ratings of 4.4 for ease of use, 4.3 for features and 4.4 for customer service. The CRM is rated ever so slightly lower on G2 though, at 4.4 out of 5.
4. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM markets itself as a CRM that caters to the business needs of mid-scale to large-scale enterprises. It has a free offering that makes an excellent entry-level CRM for small businesses and users can always upgrade to a paid plan.
The paid plan includes features such as automating marketing tasks and tracking customer data. Some of its most used features include contact management, sales funnels, pipeline management and workflow automation, to name a few.
On the paid option, Zoho CRM also offers integrations with 500+ popular business apps in a single business system. These include a number of third party apps such as Mailchimp, Google Analytics and Quickbooks.
Main benefits
Free plan. Perhaps the biggest benefit of this CRM is that it has a free version, something that may appeal to small businesses with lower sales volumes and budgets.
Mobile app. Zoho CRM also has a mobile app, meaning you can keep track of your data while on the move. You can also connect to other Zoho apps on the free plan.
Intuitive interface. Zoho CRM is both easy to learn and to use. All plans let you create contact lists, generate leads with drag-and-drop forms and include customization.
Main limitations
Limited plan options. Low-tier users face a lot of restrictions on the number of users adn some features. AI tools are also only available on high-tier plans.
Customer support. A lot of users comment on the fact that support is not very useful when it comes to integrations with third party apps, which is worth keeping in mind.
Power. Zoho CRM is not the most powerful CRM, meaning there are limitations to the amount of data it can process. This is something larger businesses will need.
Zoho CRM dashboard
Important details
Pricing: Zoho CRM has a free option, followed by a standard price of $14 per user per month, which rises to $40 on its most comprehensive offering. This is a good CRM for those on a budget or who are dipping their toes into the CRM market.
Integrations: Zoho CRM offers limited integrations unless you’re on its top two plans, then this number is unlimited. Customers have commented that it can be difficult to implement integrations.
Support available: On G2, the platform is rated 7.5 for customer support, a point below the industry average. People have noted that reply times can be long and support for free plans is not prioritised.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Zoho CRM is rated 4.3 out of 5, with scores of 4.1 for customer service, 4.1 for ease of use and 4.3 for features. The CRM software is also rated 4.0 on G2, a lower score than most competitors.
5. Monday.com
Monday.com is a project management tool that has recently moved into the CRM space with monday sales CRM. It was released in August 2022, focussing on lead and deal management, contact management, real-time sales dashboards and project management.
Traditionally, Monday.com is a cloud-based platform that enables organizations to establish workflows, manage teams, and track projects company-wide. The software excels at bringing together different departments across the business and providing greater visibility into projects in progress in real-time.
When this is translated into a CRM, it is quite powerful. The sales CRM is a fully customizable sales platform, meaning users can track deals, manage pipelines, centralize client communication and view important data on simple dashboards.
It is a good CRM for teams that require a lightweight, easy-to-use sales CRM but doesn’t have the large-scale capabilities of a platform like Salesforce or HubSpot.
Main benefits
User experience. Monday is known for its friendly interface, accessibility and intuitive nature and this isn’t lost on its CRM offering. Users regularly comment on how accessible the platform is and the speed of adoption.
Integrations. For a smaller CRM, Monday has a lot to offer on the integrations front, with over 200 available, often through third-party integrations. These include Slack, Google applications and Meta applications.
Cost. Monday is a well priced alternative to Salesforce and doesn’t seem to have too many hidden costs. This makes it a great solution for smaller and scaling businesses.
Monday.com sales crm interface
Main limitations
Lightweight solution. Monday is a fairly lightweight CRM, meaning it will not have all of the same capabilities as a larger CRM like HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive.
Features. Monday is missing any advanced marketing features such as mass email send and tracking. This can mean it is limited to more of a sales use case than other Salesforce alternatives.
Bugs. A fair number of users have commented on the platform's bugs, often noting they have to log in and out to stop the screen from freezing. Although many did comment that this may be an early stage issue.
Important details
Pricing: The basic plan for monday sales CRM starts at $10 per user, while their enterprise plans are custom and therefore have no starting price. On the whole, users seem pleased with the price offering.
Integrations: The sales CRM has around 200+ integrations, some of which are native. However, most can be achieved through a third party system such as Zapier.
Support available: Monday has a high customer support score on G2 with a score of 8.7 out of 10. Customer reviews are also by and large positive about support.
Independent reviews
Monday sales crm has a rating of 4.7 on Capterra, with ratings of 4.7 for ease of use, 4.7 for customer service and 4.5 for features, making it one of the higher rated solutions on the market. It is rated slightly lower on G2 though, with a rating of 4.6 out of 5.
6. SalesLoft
Salesloft is an AI-powered revenue workflow platform that aims to help sellers and sales teams create more profit. The platform brands itself as a full service platform for sales teams to execute all of their digital selling tasks, build rapport with buyers and data led insights set to win deals.
For a sales focussed platform, it covers a lot of ground. Salesloft specialises in sales forecasting, lead management, sales acceleration, sales tracking, sales automation, call recording, cold emailing, sales training call tracking and more.
Salesloft also provides a customer engagement platform for sales teams. It has over 100 integrations available, including a popular integration with Salesforce.
Main benefits
Sales engagement. With an intense focus on the sales journey, Salesloft is extremely well equipped to keep sales reps engaged.
Scalability. Salesloft is very customizable, meaning it can fit the needs of small and large sales teams, making it suitable for various business sizes.
Analytics and reporting. Salesloft offers data-driven insights to help sales teams track performance and make data-informed decisions.
Main limitations
Price. A number of users have commented that Salesloft is relatively expensive, especially for smaller businesses or startups.
Complex features. For businesses that follow a more straightforward sales processes, some features of Salesloft could be overly complex for their needs.
Customization limitations. While the platform is highly customizable, there are certain limitations when trying to tailor the platform to very specific requirements.
Salesloft dashboard
Important details
Pricing: Salesloft does not have any of its pricing visible on its website or G2. However, users seem to state in reviews that it’s on the pricer side of sales automation software.
Integrations: Salesloft offers over 100 integrations, including with all the usual suspects. Although some of these are only available through a third party such as Zapier.
Support available: Quality of support is rated 8.7/10 on G2, making it just below the industry standard of 8.9. Users on the whole seem happy with the quality of support they receive from the platform.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Salesloft is rated 4.3 out of 5, with scores of 4.2 for features, 4.1 for customer service and 4.3 for ease of use. Salesloft is also rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2.
7. Freshsales
Freshsales is a sales automation solution made for sales teams. The CRM has the capability to attract quality leads, engage in quality conversation with prospects using built in email and phone capacity, drive deals with AI and nurture customer relationships.
Like most solutions mentioned here, it's a cloud-based CRM solution that aims to help increase revenue by giving salespeople a better overview of their pipeline and customer base. The platform was founded in 2016 and is now used by over 60,000 businesses.
Freshsales uses Zapier for its integrations function, integrating with over 750 applications using this method. It offers app ‘bundles’ to users based on their particular needs, such as the ‘reach my leads bundle’.
Main benefits
Simplicity and ease. Freshsales is a fairly intuitive platform, with a user experience that suits all levels not just those who are tech savvy.
Value. As a lower budget option, Freshsales is rated highly for the value it gives customers with training sessions and customer support ratings high.
Feature selection. Freshsales has a wide range of CRM features to suit businesses of varying sizes.
Freshsales dashboard
Main limitations
Custom fields. Some users comment that there are not enough custom fields available on the platform, requiring more manual work than other CRMs.
Organization. The organisational ability of this CRM is high, which can lead to some users becoming confused as to what to put where.
Integrations. Most integrations are not native and require users to use Zapier which can cause some issues.
Important details
Pricing: The smallest plan starts at $15 per user and graduates to $69 per user on their largest plan.
Integrations: There are lots of integrations on offer but these are primarily through a third-party integration via Zapier. Some users find this a frustration of the platform.
Support available: Quality of Support is voted above average for Freshsales, at 8.9/10 against an industry standard of 8.6. Most users comment positively on the customer support experience.
Independent reviews
On Capterra, Freshsales is rated 4.5 out of 5, with scores of 4.4 for features, 4.5 for customer service and 4.4 for ease of use. Salesloft is rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2, with over 1,100 reviews.
Questions to consider when choosing a Salesforce alternative
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when before choosing a Salesforce alternative for your business:
How many sales do you make a month?
What is your budget? Is Salesforce too expensive?
What are your typical use cases?
How important is customer service to you?
What security measures do you need to meet?
Is having a positive user experience essential to you?
Which industry are you focussed on?
Would you like your Salesforce alternative to integrate with certain platforms? (e.g do you want to manage contracts Salesforce?)
Have you considered comparing it to other options available, eg. HubSpot vs Monday.com
Would you benefit from any functionality beyond the traditional sales pipeline?
Now you have the answers to those questions in mind, it'll be much easier to find the right Salesforce alternative for you.
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